It's Only Forever
by To Go Amongst Mad People
Summary: Alice has to fight to find the one thing she cares about most, will she reach it in time? This story may be disturbing to some people as it does deal with issues of self harm.


**To Go Amongst Mad People**

**Title: It's Only Forever (Labyrinth)**

**Pairing: Alice/Jasper**

**Warning: This story may be disturbing to some people as it deals with issues of self harm. **

**To see other entries in the To Go Amongst Mad People contest, please visit the Contest's FanFiction page:**

**http:// www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net / u /2128870**/

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"Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City to take back what you have stolen. For my will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom is as great…"

Alice's voice trailed off, her brow creasing in concentration.

"For my will is as strong as yours, my kingdom as great... Damn. I can never remember that line." She pulled the small worn copy of her favorite book from her coat pocket. Opening it directly to the page she needed, she traced her finger down along the words as she sought out the passage.

"You have no power over me." She read the line with conviction, as though her imaginary enemies were standing before her. Alice let out a sigh, allowing the tension of the moment to lift from her.

"I've seen him, you know?" she said, as she slumped down into the grass beside her best friend. "Not just in my dreams or visions… He's real." Alice gazed out over the park into the steel-gray sky, a slight fall breeze picking up the papery leaves and tossing them haphazardly through the air.

"They think I'm crazy, Rose." Alice scratched the furry sheep dog behind her ear, causing her to lean into Alice's hand with content until she fell over onto the ground beside her. "I don't care what they say though." Alice smiled down at her companion, giving her another playful scratch behind that same floppy ear. "Of course, I'd only be supporting their case by sitting in the park talking to a dog while the worst storm of the year rolls in over us."

She glanced up at the dreary sky once more just as the clouds released their first drops of moisture onto her pale, angelic face. Alice smiled. She began flipping through her book again, reading aloud to Rose as the thunder rolled around them.

Alice had dreamt for so long of her prince that she felt a palpable connection to him, as though her sleeping mind were more aware of the realities of her being than her conscious mind could ever be. He had come to her night after night for three long years, gazing in at her from the edges of her consciousness through golden eyes that, even in dreams, were as intense as the rising sun. They would talk; Alice would tell him anything he wanted to know, and in turn, he would share with her all of the hopes and desires of his heart. They were spiritually connected like no other two had ever been. In her dreams, she could talk to him, and he to her. Alice had the gift of sight, and Jasper had told her that his family believed this was why they could communicate in such a manner. She knew him before he had ever found her; her soul had called out to him. They were created to be together. Two pieces of one whole, separated unjustly in some past lifetime.

The first time she had seen him, leaning casually against the counter in that small diner, she felt the most powerful pull. When she walked through the door and caught her first real glimpse of Jasper, her soul rejoiced. It was like being relieved of a burden she was only scarcely aware she had been carrying until she felt it lifted. She knew where she belonged.

A loud crack of thunder ripped through the gray sky, tearing it open and releasing an incredible downpour of thick raindrops. The loud rumble almost drowned out the sound of the chiming bell tower behind her, but not quite. Alice's dreamy smile faded quickly as her head snapped around to check the time on the clock, having been lost within her thoughts.

"Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh NO!" she chanted as she nimbly bounced to her feet and began running across the wet grass. Rose stayed right at her heels, panting in unison with Alice's labored huffs as they ran the three blocks back home. Alice's mother was already waiting in the car for her when she came jogging into the driveway.

"I'm so sorry, Mom," she said as she opened the passenger door and slipped inside.

Her mother reached up to the visor, pressing the button on her garage door opener so that Rose could run in out of the rain.

"Sweetheart, you know how important this is. You aren't supposed to miss a single session or they'll have to bring you back for inpatient treatment again."

Alice had been having visions for some time before initially meeting Jasper. Sometimes it was visions of him, or her family, sometimes complete strangers, but most of the time, these visions and dreams would turn to reality.

Aro, Alice's psychiatrist, had been counseling and prescribing medication for her for the last six months. Never sticking to the same drugs for long, as they all seemed to have little to no effect on her "hallucinations" as they called them. Alice agreed to the sessions, as per her mothers wishes, but after just a few short meetings with Aro, she was sure she couldn't trust him much. Of course, if she were to tell her mother or grandmother that he was actually one of _them_, they would just lock her away and bury the key.

Alice knew Aro's secrets. She knew that he was a vampire and that he had been watching her since she was young, hoping that someday he could add her to his collection of talented guardsmen. Aro was kind to Alice and her family because of this. He believed fully in the old saying, "you catch more flies with honey," but Alice saw right through his sugar-coated façade. He knew about her visions the first day that she walked through the door to his office and politely shook his hand. Aro had drawn every drop of truth from her with just that single touch; his ability to read people's memories this way was Aro's special gift. He didn't let Alice in on that interesting detail until their second session, when he breached the subject of vampires.

Aro had propositioned Alice to come to Volterra with him; to become one of them, a vampire, and stay with him forever. Alice declined, telling them that her heart and soul belonged to another and she would not be without him. She watched as a brief flash of anger shot through his black eyes, before he smoothed the mask back into a papery smile.

"Very well," he had told her, most politely. "We'll continue with these sessions until your love comes for you, at which point we will have to figure out another arrangement." His smile was laced with cruelty, and for the first time in three years, Alice had worried for the safety of her vampire love.

~*~

People always viewed anything different or out-of-the-ordinary as a threat. They accused Alice of being crazy and after a few more of her predictions, opted to send her away to the Rolling Hills Asylum for evaluation. She spent four months medicated and locked away from everyone and everything that she had ever known. While the visions were still somewhat present, Jasper's voice could not be heard through the miasma of the medication. She was scared and alone, and vowed to herself that if she were ever to be released, she would keep these visions to herself.

Alice was eventually discharged under the care of her mother. Her medication seemed to keep the visions away, but nothing could stop her from knowing what was real. Jasper wasn't a dream, and some day they would have the life that they deserved together. He had told Alice that she would be a vampire; that she had to fulfill her time as a human before she could be part of that life, but that he would wait for her. He loved her and she loved him more than anything else in the world. She didn't understand why she couldn't just go with him.

Her family, aside from her mother, was unimportant to her. They had never been there throughout her life except when it was convenient for them. She hardly knew any of them at all. It had always disturbed Alice's family when she would predict the outcome of certain events, but it _terrified_ them all when she told them that her mother was going to die.

Alice tried to warn her of the impending doom. She begged her mother not to get in the car that day, but Alice's efforts were futile. Her mother kissed her on the top of her head and drove away, leaving Alice crying in the street while her grandmother tried to drag her back into the house.

Her mother never came home.

~*~

_It's time, my love. _

She heard the faint, distant sound of Jasper's voice as she slept; a whisper in the wind.

Alice woke to an icy chill caressing her bare legs. She reached out blindly in the darkness of her room seeking the warmth of her comforter, but there was no blanket to be found.

She opened her heavy lids, and after allowing her eyes to adjust to the lack of light, scanned the room. It was not at all familiar to her. Her vanity table was not against the wall to the right of the bed, her door was on the opposite side of the room, and her window— well, there _was_ no window in that room. It was not Alice's bedroom. But where was she? How did she get there, she wondered.

Alice scooted to the edge, pressing her bare feet against the cold linoleum floor as she stood from the bed. Her mind was filled with a haze of swirling confusion. Slowly, she turned, trying to take in more of the strange room than her eyes would allow in the inky night. On weak legs, she made her way over to the door which was framed by a thin sliver of golden light. She felt around until her hand met the cool metal of the handle. She pressed it down, gently at first in an attempt to be silent, but when she found that the handle would not budge, her efforts became more anxious. Pressing and pulling, Alice could not make the door open. A sob ripped through her as she began to pound desperately against it.

"Let me out!" she yelled. "Please!" Alice cried, banging repeatedly on the thick door. "Please! Help me!"

_Shhh… they'll come if you're not quiet, Alice. _

Jasper's voice tried to soothe her from within her mind.

"Where am I," she asked, as the room began to illuminate with a strange purple glow. Alice rubbed the heels of her hands against her eyes, before squinting into the changing darkness. She heard Jasper's voice speak softly into the night once again.

_Please, just calm down. I'll find you. _

His voice was strong and sure at first, but as the words echoed back and forth, they began to waver, shifting higher and lower until Alice wasn't even sure if it _had_ been Jasper in the first place.

She knew it was useless to try the door again, but feeling helpless, she had no other alternative. She jiggled the handle to no avail, her frustration building to an almost frantic level. Splaying her hands against the wall by the door, Alice began to search for a light switch.

"What's going on?" she called into the darkness. "Where am I?"

_Plink, plink, plink. _

A sound like dripping water on a sheet of metal frightened Alice even further, causing a strangled cry to escape her as the lavender fog crept up from the ground, spreading inch by inch up the walls, leaving a muted neon glow in it's wake. Alice heard the bone-chilling sound of a familiar laughter coming from somewhere near. Quickly climbed up on the small bed, she backed into the corner. She thought she heard another faint call from Jasper, but through her own terrified sobs, she could not be sure.

Visions began forming in her mind. Alice was laughing, running through a meadow,followed by peaceful images of her and Jasper together, both smiling brightly under a veil of baby's breath. But as the clanking sound grew louder and more violent, so did the vision. She saw herself standing over the body of a brown-haired girl, about her own age, both of them covered in blood. Dark fingers of heavy smoke streaming from the girls empty eye sockets. She arched her back as a disturbing gurgling noise roes up her throat, and in an instant she was vomiting an endless stream of red blood.

"No!" Alice screamed as she squeezed her eyes shut, pressing the heels of her hands into them. Alice felt something brush against her skin and shift down her wrist from the movement. Tracing her fingers over it, she immediately recognized it to be a hospital bracelet. She clutched at her clothes, hoping beyond hope that she would feel the familiar fleece of her pajamas, but was instead met with the thin, stiff cotton that was unmistakably a hospital gown.

As the soft purple glow of the room grew brighter, a figure came into focus in the corner.

"Who's there?" She knew the answer before she asked. He had done this to her before; locked her away and medicated her to the point where she had no mind of her own. He had always wanted her for himself. It upset him that he had offered her forever and yet she denied him. He promised her power beyond her wildest fantasies, but power was not something Alice desired. What she craved were acceptance and unconditional love, both of which she already had with Jasper. She only wanted forever if it was with him.

"Where is he, my dear?" Aro's voice crackled through the night and stung Alice like a hundred angry bees.

"What have you done?" she yelled into the misty haze, her voice scratchy and hoarse from her previous screams.

Aro let out a calm, casual laugh as he appeared next to a window on the wall opposite her. She knew that the window had not been there before, and it only served to cement her earlier suspicion of being drugged. She would be unable to tell what were actual visions, and what were nightmares.

Alice closed her eyes again for a brief moment, willing her mind to stay focused. When she opened them, she was standing in the center of the room with Aro less than a yard away from her.

"It's for your own good, Alice." Aro's smile was warm, but laced with venom. Alice chanced a look out the window. A single dead tree stood alone on a hilltop in a barren land.

"Where have you taken me?" she asked, walking slowly to the window and scanning the land outside for something familiar. There were low rolling hills covered in dry grass that looked to be painted on with acrylic.

"Why, Alice," Aro began in mock surprise. "This is your room, my dear. Don't you recognize it?"

Her focus settled on the dead tree, it's limbs twisting and pointing out in every direction.

"A representation of the life you'll be leaving behind, Alice dear." Aro's cold hand pressed down gently on Alice's shoulder. She flinched away, but Aro pretended not to notice. "Wasted and empty."

Alice felt a cool breeze caress her face, alerting her to the fact that her surroundings had changed yet again. Released from the confines of the room, the two now stood on the hill beside the lonely blackened tree, gazing out over a city of twisting streets and towering walls.

"All of it could be yours, Alice." Aro gestured to the scene before them. "Everything you've ever desired, every dream you've ever had, waiting for you. All you have to do is say the words."

Reality kept pushing and pulling at Alice's conscious mind. A small part of her wanted to believe Aro, to take him up on his offer, but the logical part of her mind told her that was not what she wanted, although she couldn't remember why. Aro's icy fingers brushed Alice's cheek and she flinched away from his touch again.

"It isn't you," she whispered, as she began to back away from him. "You're not him," Alice stated flatly, although her mind was reeling with questions of who her lips were speaking of.

Alice searched her memory, afraid that the medication may have taken a hold of her in exactly the way Aro had intended.

"Look at me, Alice," he said, bringing her back to the present reality. "This is what awaits you. This is all that matters." His words were gentle, but their meaning was like a shard of broken glass. Aro knew she had no one left in life; that her mother was gone and she was an outcast… a freak. He knew just what to say to affect her the most. "No one could care about you the way that I do," he said, anger now burning clearly in his eyes.

_Alice. _

A distorted echo sounded from inside her mind. She searched within for the source of the voice. Images and memories flashed like a slide-show behind her eyes, until settling on one inparticular.

_A tall blonde man smiling over at her as she slid onto the barstool beside him. _

"_You've kept me waiting a long time," she said to him. _

"_I'm sorry, ma'am." _

Suddenly, the memory was gone, turning to liquid in her mind and weighing her down to the dead earth on which she stood. Alice stared vacantly into the distance, sifting through diluted memories, trying to recapture the one that had just disappeared.

_Alice! _

The voice came again, starting as a distant echo but ending with clarity and deafening volume; realization sinking back in, just long enough for her to whisper his name.

"Jasper."

"Look at me!" Aro shouted, startling Alice out of her daze.

"You would choose that cowardly, weak soldier? The man who refused to change you until all of your meaningless human bonds were severed? Someone who lacks the control required to even be in your presence until you're one of us?" He scoffed, shaking his head in exaggerated disbelief.

Alice didn't respond. It wasn't necessary. Aro knew of the bond between Jasper and her. He knew that nothing could ever sever that connection.

"I am a reasonable man, Alice. I've never been one to not give another a fair chance. We'll play a game then." He smiled an unnerving grin.

Alice could not quite comprehend what he was saying, the haze of the medication still tugging at her, threatening to consume her. Aro pointed to the towering walls of the city.

"Find your vampire." He held up a small crystal ball in one hand, a thin cloud of gray smoke swirling within it. "You will have thirteen hours in which to solve the labyrinth. If you do not find him within this time period, you will _both_ suffer grave consequences."

Frowning at the deranged vampire in front of her, Alice couldn't help but wonder what would happen to her if she refused his charade. Would he kill her now, and leave Jasper alone? Would he change her and keep her prisoner for all of eternity? Either of those options would hurt Jasper more than she could even bear to think of.

"When the smoke in this crystal turns red, your time is over." Aro took a step closer to Alice, still holding the ball up for her to gaze into. "If at any point, you change your mind, break the crystal, and I will come to you." He glared at her for a moment before speaking again. "Sometimes, one's own mind is the most terrifying place to be alone." With that, Aro tossed the ball up into the air, and vanished.

The crystal fell in slow motion into Alice's waiting hand. The moment it touched her skin, she seemed to awaken from her trance. She knew what she needed to do, and more importantly, who she needed to do it for.

"Jasper." She said his name once more, summoning forth the courage and sanity she needed to go on.

She intended to place the crystal in the large, sole pocket of the hospital gown, but as she reached down to do so, she noted a different sort of fabric covering her body. Alice was now dressed in a thick, hooded sweat shirt, and a pair of jeans. Shaking her head in a useless attempt to rid it of the madness, she slipped the crystal into the pocket of the sweat shirt and descend the hillside.

Alice approached the brick wall that stretched out before her, noticing a small opening framed by tightly woven, dead vines. Tiny specks of light danced on the air currents and scattered as she approached. Still unsure of what was real and what was part of her over-medicated delusion, Alice tentatively reached a hand out to touch the vine-clad door frame. When her fingertips brushed against the dry plant, it began to turn green and spring back to life. Alice jerked her hand away with a gasp, and the spread of color instantly stopped. She glanced around her, taking in her surroundings once more before stepping through the mysterious opening in the seemingly magical wall. To either side of her was a long, narrow road of cobblestone edged by the tall brick walls of the maze. Deciding that neither direction looked like a better choice than the other, Alice made her way down the path to her left.

She walked for a very long stretch, seeing no openings, no doorways, no curves or turns. Alice began to worry that she had already made her first mistake in Aro's deadly game by choosing the wrong direction. She stopped and turned to look back in the direction from which she came, the passage seeming to go on forever. Alice broke into a run in the direction she had already been heading. The end, though, somehow seemed further away now, but she ran until her legs ached and tears streamed down her face.

Finally allowing herself a break to catch her breath, Alice leaned over panting, and pressed her hands against the wall beside her. The bricks rippled around her as though she had placed her hands in a shallow puddle, which smoothed out almost immediately when she pulled away. She pressed her fingertip to it again, but this time the wall remained solid. Alice knew that the medication had affected her mind to the point where real and imaginary were merged into one strange world, but she also knew there was no way to tell the difference. She wearily placed her palm against it again and her hand went all the way through, the breeze on the other side warm against her skin. Placing her other hand against it, she pushed her way through the wall and came out on the opposite side where the sun was shining high in the sky above her. Alice turned back to the wall, running her hands all along it to see where the opening had been, but once again, it was completely solid.

Turning around again she found herself in a small court yard with beautiful flowers and trees that surrounded a large fountain right in the center. On a normal day, it would have been a perfect place for Alice to bring Rose and spend the day reading and playing in the water.

This, however, was no ordinary day. Alice reminded herself that this would be the day that decided her fate.

She did her best to remain focused by thinking back on her time with Jasper. It was true that he had been worried about being with her while she was human. Jasper was not used to resisting the scent of human blood and found it hard to control himself, but from the moment they met in the diner, they both knew they were meant to be together. They had spent hours sitting at a tiny table that day talking, just getting to know one another. Jasper was more shy and reserved; a perfect counter to Alice's outgoing, forward personality. He was handsome and kind, and such a gentleman. Alice had told him that she'd seen him in a vision before; that she knew she would meet him. He always believed her after that, never doubting her or her ability.

Brightly colored butterflies fluttered from within the leaves of the trees as Alice made her way across the court yard. On the other side stood two wooden doors. The first one was tall and made of thick oak with large iron hinges, looking very much like it belonged on a castle of medieval times. The second door was quite small in comparison, also made of wood, but rounded at the top, the hinges and handle a lighter shade, and the frame carved with a delicate pattern.

Noticing no other openings or passageways, it was obvious that she would need to choose one of the two doors in front of her, but she wondered how she was to decide. She quickly glanced around the courtyard before pressing her ear to the smaller door. No sounds came from the other side; perhaps it was too thick to hear through it. She knocked loudly, taking a step back, not sure what she was waiting for. She tried the handle next, but the door was locked. Alice pressed her ear to the taller door and listened for a moment to the silence before knocking on that one as well. She tried the handle of the second door, but it too was locked. She took another step back, glancing from one to the other. There had to be a way through.

"You have to choose one," a small voice said from behind her.

Alice gasped. Spinning around, she was met with the sight of a young girl of about four or five years old, standing in the fountain. The girl giggled at the startled expression on Alice's face. Alice glanced around nervously, wondering which dark corner of her mind this child had come from. She pointed a small, youthful finger to the doors behind Alice.

"Those," she said in a tiny musical voice. "You have to choose one before it will open."

Alice glanced over her shoulder before looking back at the girl. She had never seen such a child in her life, she was sure. The deep chocolate eyes, the auburn curls of her hair, pale porcelain skin with the slightest blush of rosy-pink across her cheeks. This child was beautiful beyond words, but left Alice feeling extremely uneasy. She placed a chubby hand over her mouth, giggling again as she beamed at Alice.

"Where did you come from?" Alice asked as she gazed at the girl in bewilderment.

"Mommy says I came from heaven." The image of the girl flickered and seemed to reappear in a more muted color as wavy lines ran through her momentarily. It was as though Alice had been watching the child on an ill-tuned television set. "Daddy doesn't think I did though." The girl tilted her head as a far-off look glazed her mocha eyes. "Daddy says that mommy's gone mad." The little girl looked into Alice's eyes once again, causing a chill to run up her back. "Do you know what mad means?"

She got the distinct feeling that the girl would not settle for an answer one would normally give a child her age. Alice nodded slowly. The child's smile faded as she flickered again, this time appearing just outside of the fountain; her dress perfectly dry.

"Mad is.... it's..." Alice inhaled slowly, trying to steady her nerves. "It's when someone's mind doesn't work the way that people think it should." Her voice trembled slightly as she spoke.

The girl put her hands behind her back and began twisting back and forth at the waist, causing the pink skirt of her dress to brush her knees. "Is your mommy mad, too?"

Alice shook her head. "My mommy is dead," she said softly. The girl stopped twirling as another eerie smile spread across her face, this time causing a chill to pass straight to Alice's heart.

"Play with me." The girl's voice cut out with a scratchy sound, as if the poor television reception was affecting all of her now.

"I have to go." Alice took a step backward. "I'm sorry. I... I don't have time to play."

"Play with me," the child repeated in the same static tone. She drew a hand from behind her back and held up a small glass ball with gray smoke cascading in it's core.

Alice gasped, shoving her hands into the pocket of her sweat shirt. The ball that Aro had given her was gone, as she suspected. The little girl smiled another hollow, emotionless grin as she gazed into the crystal.

"Pretty," she said.

"Please." Alice reached a hand out. "I need that back."

The girl hissed, clutching the ball to her chest and stepping backward.

"Okay, okay," Alice said, raising her palms up toward the child. "All right. We can play. Let's play."

The little girl glared at Alice menacingly while inhaling deep, slow breaths through her nose, her lips pursed into an angry frown.

"What's your name?" Alice asked, hoping that the little girl might forget what she was angry about. The child's lips curled back from her teeth and she let out a low, rumbling snarl. Alice was frightened. She wasn't sure what this creature was, but she new it was far from friendly. She would have to get through one of the doors and hope that the girl wouldn't bother giving chase.

She knew she had to make a firm decision for one of the doors to unlock for her, so without a second thought, Alice set her mind firmly to the smaller, more friendly looking door.

The girl took a step closer to Alice, still snarling and spitting through her clenched teeth, but stopped abruptly, her face smoothing back into that of an innocent child. Her lips began to move, but it was not the sweet, musical voice of the girl which flowed from her lips. It was Alice's own voice, playing back to her as if from a recording.

"We can play. I need that. What's your name?" The girl stopped walking and held the glass ball up again. "You've kept me waiting a long time," she said in Alice's voice.

As soon as those words left her lips, Alice was sure the child was a figment of her imagination. No one knew of the words spoken between her and Jasper the day that they met.

"You're not real," Alice said, as the realization settled in.

"You don't play nice," the child spat. It was no longer Alice's voice, but a deep growl that did not belong to a young girl at all, but rather a large man.

"Go away," Alice demanded firmly.

The girl shrieked her tantrum, drawing her tiny arm back and hurling the crystal at Alice with such force that in the split second that she had to think about it, Alice was sure it would have gone straight through her, splintering the door behind her. Alice reached her hand out in front of her face, locking her elbow, and caught the ball. She felt the bones in her wrist shatter with the force. Reaching out with the other hand, she quickly grabbed the ball as it dropped, and shoved it back into her pocket. She used her good hand to fling open the door at her back. Spinning her body, she stopped in place on the other side, slamming the door shut behind her. She pressed her weight against it in the hopes that it would be enough, and listened intently.

Silence.

It did not seem that the child cared to get to Alice after all, for which she was immensely relieved. Her head began to swim again with the weighted feeling of the medication. Alice rocked unintentionally on her heels, before steadying herself against the wall beside her. A searing pain continued to pulse down her arm, circling her elbow before making it's way back up to her wrist again. Her hand was completely numb, and try as she might, Alice could not will her fingers to move at all. It was as if she was staring at someone else's hand. The pain was scarcely bearable, and she knew that were it not for whatever drug Aro had given her, it would have rendered her immobile, unable to think of anything at all but the pulsating waves of agony coursing through her arm.

Alice knew she had to be strong. Any physical pain was trivial in comparison to the emotional pain that she would suffer every day for the rest of eternity if she failed. She silently cursed herself for not having listened to Jasper the year before, when he had warned her of Aro's dangerous demeanor . She wanted to make her mother happy though, so she had continued with the sessions.

Alice let one single tear escape before straightening her back, squaring her shoulders and setting out on the path before her.

She wandered through the maze with no real method to her twists and turns other than being driven by the need to find Jasper. There was nothing particularly notable about that part of the labyrinth; nothing significant or special to call a landmark as she made her way through. Every turn in the path looked the same; every doorway identical to the last.

Alice stopped, fearing that she may have been wandering in circles. She slid down a wall, sitting on the ground against it while clutching her broken wrist and squeezing her eyes shut tightly. She searched her mind, seeking out a vision of hope; something that would tell her she was on the right path, but her mind's eye saw only darkness.

Alice allowed herself one more moment's rest before standing again and reaching into her pocket to retrieve the crystal. The smoke within had darkened significantly. Not quite black, but certainly not far from it. She would have to double her efforts. If only she could convince her mind to focus clearly, then she could communicate with Jasper. She knew he was in the maze somewhere, but she was sure that he thought she was still in her room at the asylum, probably waiting for nightfall to go in and rescue her. She hadn't been able to tell him that she was out; that Aro had made a deadly arrangement with her.

There had to be a logical way through the labyrinth. If she could just keep her head on straight, she would find it.

Alice turned the corner beside her. As she moved through the next passage, she heard the sound of echoing footsteps from somewhere far behind her. Alice paused, holding her breath and straining to hear whether or not the sound was getting closer.

Again, she was met with only silence.

She looked up, noting the placement of the sun as it painted the sky in pale pink and tangerine sorbet colors. Assessing that she probably had only two or three more hours before it would set, shrouding her in darkness, Alice decided to try and maintain an Eastern direction. She had no idea which way North had been from the hill she stood on before she began her journey. She could not even be sure that the directions were the same in this strange world, but keeping the sun at her back seemed a logical way to be sure she wouldn't be walking in circles. Lead by her shadow, Alice continued down the path, pausing occasionally when she would hear those same clicking footsteps behind her.

The scenery stayed the same for what seemed like an hours; just a cobblestone path, edged by twenty-foot brick walls, with various twists and turns for Alice to choose from. Sometimes she would see green leaves of a tall tree peeking over from the other side. Eventually, she came upon another clearing not dissimilar from the last, save for the fact that there were no doors or sparkling fountain.

It was another small courtyard, framed by trees and brightly colored flowers. Stone benches circled a heavily wooded area in the center, where bushes and trees with twisting vines grew. Alice walked closer and noticed the same specks of colorful light that she had seen at the entrance to the labyrinth. Once again, they scattered as she neared them.

Alice heard the distinct sound of clicking footsteps again. Turning in the direction from which she just came, Alice saw a woman come around the corner. Her labored breathing caught Alice's attention immediately. With raised eyebrows and a hand on her chest, she certainly seemed far more human than the child from earlier. Her golden, champagne colored hair shining in the sun as she parted her ruby-red lips to speak.

"These damn things," she said, walking passed Alice as if she didn't notice her standing there at all and taking a seat on one of the stone benches. Alice followed with her eyes, unable to speak. The woman crossed her legs, massaging an ankle with both hands. She was dressed in a pair of tight grey pants and a white cashmere sweater with a pair of heels that Alice was sure were the cause of her discomfort. "You're impossible to keep up with," the woman said.

Alice finally regained her voice. "Why were you following me?"

"You were hurt. Looked like you needed help." Alice clutched her injured wrist to her chest protectively. "Oh, relax. If you want to keep it that way for now, that's your decision." Alice would, of course, prefer the use of both hands, but she was unsure what this woman could do for her, or if she could even be trusted. She seemed harmless; nothing at all like the eerie feeling Alice got from the child.

She slowly backed up, sitting on the bench nearest her without taking her eyes off the woman who still had her attention focused on her ankle.

"I'm Rosalie, by the way." She smiled over at Alice warmly.

Alice hesitated for a moment before replying. "Alice."

Rosalie nodded. She pointed to the bushes at the center of the circle. "Put your hand in there and hold really still."

"What?" Alice asked.

Rosalie rolled her eyes. "They'll fix it."

"Who?" Alice asked in bewilderment.

The blonde woman nodded toward the woody area. "The fairies."

"Fairies?" Alice was beginning to feel the effects of the medication again and wasn't sure if the woman was really speaking to her about fairies, or if Alice's mind had conjured that up.

"Look," Rosalie began, lowering her voice. "I know you're scared and confused. There are strange things going on in here. Believe me, I've seen things that your eyes aren't capable of picking up just in the short time you've been here, but I can't help you unless you let me, and I'm afraid I'm running out of time." Glancing around to assure herself that they were alone, she pulled a chain out of the neckline of her sweater, a tiny crystal ball with burgundy smoke swirling inside hanging from it.

Alice reached into her pocket and pulled out her own crystal, which now contained a thick black cloud.

"You have to find him, Alice." Her voice cracked. "He and his brother, Edward, are in here somewhere. They don't even know you're here. Perhaps if you manage to get close enough to them, Edward could read your mind and see where you are. Yelling for them won't work. I tried calling after you, but there's some sort of sound barrier. Vampires do have an incredible sense of smell though."

Alice nodded in understanding. She had already suspected that Jasper was unaware that she was in the labyrinth, and he had told her long ago about his brother's ability, so she was not at all surprised by what the mysterious woman had said.

"Just be careful," Rosalie said softly, tears streaming down her face. Alice gazed at her sympathetically, curious as to why this woman who only just met her, seemed to care so much.

Rosalie's body began to tremble and Alice noticed that the smoke within the tiny ball on her necklace had turned bright red. Rosalie looked from her shaking hands into Alice's eyes, offering one last feeble smile, and right before her eyes, the beautiful woman had transformed into a large, furry dog; into Alice's dog. She shook out her coat of shining gray and white fur as she settled into the new shape.

"Rose!" cried Alice, leaping to her feet, but the dog quickly backed away before turning and running out of the courtyard. Alice knew that she didn't have the time to go after her, and wasn't sure it would do her any good if she did.

She sat back down on the stone bench, allowing the things that Rosalie had said to replay in her mind while the words were still fresh. She looked at her own crystal once more before placing it back in her pocket. It had gone back to a darker shade of gray, rather than black, but regardless, she knew she was running out of time as well, and needed to get moving again.

The sun seemed to creep further up into the sky, suggesting that she had more daylight than she originally thought, but as she watched it, she noticed it sliding back and forth in the sky, as if preparing to go either direction. It had also grown dimmer, like a flash light with a weakened bulb.

_This whole place is mad,_ Alice thought to herself as she leaned forward, thrusting her injured hand into the bushes in front of her. She held perfectly still, just as Rosalie had instructed, until she felt the tingling sensation in her fingers signaling that she was regaining the feeling. Alice twitched them slightly. She was promptly met with several small pinches as though hairs were being plucked from her arm. She assumed that the uncomfortable pinches were the fairies biting her, which was most likely why Rosalie had advised her to hold still. Alice could imagine the sting of all of the fairies biting her at once, so she froze, holding perfectly still until the tingling sensation had spread from her fingertips up her arm to her elbow, and finally diminished. Alice pulled her hand out and watched in wonder as thousands of the tiny specks of colored light scattered into the air around her. A small smile spread across her face as she wiggled her fingers painlessly and made her way back into the endless twists and turns of the maze.

Tiny flecks of white danced through the air and fell softly to the ground at her feet. Alice looked up at the sky. It was snowing without a single cloud in this bizarre place. She saw the stars above her beginning to glow brightly as the light of the rocking sun finally burned out. The stars and moon seemed to give off enough light that Alice was not completely lost to the shadows of the labyrinth.

Alice had never liked the dark. Since she was little, it had always been an unfriendly place to her. Her anxiety grew as she walked through the different passages, no longer guided by her own shadow. She thought about yelling for Jasper, but was afraid of what attention she might attract by doing so.

She felt along the dimly lit walls for doorways and passages that her weak eyes may have overlooked. Everything seemed to be getting even darker now. Alice slapped her open palms against the brick in frustration. "This isn't fair!" she hissed. "What a horrible place this is."

"Now, now," a voice said from within the shadows. Aro stepped forth into the dim moonlight. His dark cloak hiding his pale skin. "That's not a very nice thing to say."

"You!" Alice shouted, seething with anger and frustration. "Where's Jasper?"

"I told you, child, find him and he's yours. I'll never bother you again. But if your time runs out…" Aro laughed, shaking his head.

"Tell me where he is!" she demanded.

"That's not how the game is played, my dear," Aro stated flatly.

"I'm tired of your game. You make the rules and expect me to figure things out on my own. It isn't fair."

"You keep saying that, child. I wonder what your basis for comparison is. I ask so little of you, Alice. Just fear me, love me, do as I _say!_" he shouted the latter word, the fire of his wrath burning in his now red eyes.

"Never," Alice said through clenched teeth, reflecting his anger back to him.

Aro laughed a cold chuckle. "Be careful, Alice. I have been generous up until now. I _can_ be cruel."

"Generous? What have you done that's generous?"

"Everything!" he shouted, stepping closer to Alice. "I've done everything you've wanted! You wanted a chance to find your vampire. I gave it to you. You wanted a door to open. I opened it. You were in need of a friend, and I sent your only friend to you, Alice! I have reordered time. I have turned the world upside down, and I have done it all for you! I am exhausted from living up to your expectations. Is that not generous?"

Aro lifted a gloved hand, waving it above him. The stars gathered in the center of the sky, and with the clench of his fist, began to glow brighter. He lowered his hand, pointing a finger in Alice's face. She stood her ground courageously, not backing away, not breaking eye contact.

"I rearrange the stars for no one! So don't accuse me of being unkind to you, child. All of this is your own creation. I've simply taken the thoughts that you had in your own mind and brought them to life."

"This is real then? It's not just in my mind?"

Aro lowered his finger to Alice's neck, smiling as if he were suddenly very pleased.

"Oh, Alice... this is all very much real. If I cut you, you will bleed." He traced a finger along her neck.

Scowling at him, Alice reached up, taking hold of his wrist. "I still have time," she stated.

Aro smiled again. "Ah, yes. The time that I have so generously given you."

She lowered her hand as he pulled his away. A thought had occurred to her. A last resort option if all else failed. Alice did not want to risk skin-to-skin contact with Aro, lest he see what her plan was.

"Well then," he said, the smile fading from his face, "I suppose I should allow you to continue." Aro slowly backed away, fading into the shadow from whence he came. Alice moved forward, searching the darkness. Aro was gone again. She breathed a sigh of relief before continuing down the path.

Alice felt an awkward bit of comfort knowing now that this was in fact all real; that she wasn't strapped to a bed in a hospital somewhere. She thought back on the time that she had been in the hospital; her mother coming to visit her, promising to take her home as soon as she was well. If only her she had believed Alice, there would have been no need for lost time; no for her mother's death; no need for this dreaded place that now held her captive.

But no one believed her. No one but Jasper.

Alice had never realized how empty her life was before meeting him; how truly alone she had been. He completed her in ways that she could have never imagined and now her time was running out. Alice pulled the crystal out to check the smoke, the color now a pale pink.

She thought again about what Rosalie had mentioned about a vampire's sense of smell. That part of her plan would go one of two directions, both of which Alice was content with, although one would be more preferable than the other. She didn't really want to die, but she knew that Aro had no interest in Jasper beyond her. She was sure that if she were gone from this place, he would be free.

Alice picked up a piece of jagged stone from the path in front of her. She glanced around briefly before pressing it to her forearm. If she got enough blood flowing, Jasper and his brother were sure to smell it. Alice hoped that they would get to her before she bled to death, but she knew not to count on it too greatly. Her soul had always called out to him, and now she hoped that her blood would demand his presence as well. What she was about to do could either be an end for all of them— a release from this strange, lonely hell for her and freedom for the one she loved— or it would be a new beginning. If Jasper could find her while her heart still beat strongly enough to push the venom through her body, he could change her.

She envisioned Aro standing before her, shaking his head in disappointment at what she was about to do.

And then she heard another voice. An all too familiar voice that she had longed to hear.

"Sweetheart, don't," her mother said, placing a ghostly, incandescent hand on Alice's.

"What other choice have I?" Alice whispered. "I need to be free of this, one way or another."

Alice's mother withdrew her hand, glaring at her daughter coldly. "You never were of sound mind. I knew I should have left you in the asylum where you belonged."

The words cut deep. Her mother was the person who raised her, read to her before bed at night, coddled her when she was ill, loved her, but Alice knew that her love was not without condition. All Alice ever wanted was for her to accept her for who she was and she knew now that would never happen.

"Go away," Alice whispered with half-hearted meaning.

"Aro can take care of you." Her mother's icy voice echoed off the walls around them.

"I love Jasper," Alice stated firmly.

"What do you know of love? You have never loved or been loved! Not even your own family could love you!" the woman spat. Alice felt a brief pang of guilt for not being able to be the person that her mother had expected her to be her whole life.

Suddenly the woman's eyes went from the familiar ocean-blue, to pure white and then nothing more than a hollow socket. Her skin began to crack, forming lines like those found on a dry desert floor. She was another trick of Aro's, sent not to comfort Alice, but to frighten her into his will. The woman reached out for Alice again, but this time Alice hit her hand away, crumbling it upon impact.

"Don't you want to be loved, Alice?" her mother's voice rose angrily from the decrepit figure before her.

Alice shook her head. "You have no power over me," she told the creature, before plunging the jagged stone into her forearm. She dragged it roughly down the veined path to her wrist, yelling in agony as the stone fell from her hand. Alice fell to her knees, clutching her arm as blood drained out, pooling on the cobblestone beneath her.

The woman faded away in front of her, until Alice was once again alone.

A momentary feeling of panic coursed through her as she realized that, in her anger, she had plunged the stone in too deep. Sounds of cascading water began to echo through her head with the loud thump of her heart. Alice's eyelids felt heavy, but she forced them to stay opened. She felt herself teetering back and forth on her knees, her body feeling weak and tired. All Alice could think of was how badly she wanted to lay down and close her eyes for just one moment, but something deep within her held her upright and refused to grant her that wish.

Alice's thoughts traced rapidly over the memories of her life, like flashing frames of a silent film: a young girl dressed as Snow White, trick-or-treating with her father just before he passed, holding on to her mothers wrists as she was lifted into a swing on a warm summer day, alone on her bed with silent tears slipping down her face and landing on her pillow, and finally the images slowed as her mind again played out her day with Jasper in the diner.

He pulled a chair out for her at a corner table and took a seat across from her. They talked for hours, not moving any nearer to each other. At one point, Jasper had reached his hand toward her, but withdrew it before making contact. Ultimately, it was not his thirst for blood that kept him away from her, but his need to be with her. He knew she needed time with her mother, while there _was_ still time, and he refused to take her away from that.

Upon parting, he had told her he wished he could kiss her, but he feared that once his lips met hers, they will have found their place and never want to part from them again. Her soft laughter echoed through her thoughts before all went silent; her mind unable to hold on to anything at all.

Time passed, void of thought as the rainbow colors of the world around her faded to black.

She heard faint whispers as she felt her body being jostled.

Jasper was crouched on the ground, protectively cradling Alice's limp form, pressing her tightly to his body and frantically rocking back and forth as her light slipped away.

"Her thoughts are fading. She's almost gone, Jasper," Edward said. "She'll finally be in peace. Just let her go."

"No!" He shouted.

"Jasper." Edward placed a hand on his brother's trembling shoulder. Jasper jerked away from him, holding Alice even tighter. If he wasn't careful, he would crush her bones to dust. But would it matter now? He released a dry sob at the thought.

"She's better off without this life anyway." Edward spoke softly from behind Jasper, not making another attempt to move closer, but rather giving him the distance that he needed.

"Bullshit!" Jasper shouted. "You don't just let go of something you love this deeply." He glared over his shoulder at his brother. "You don't just walk away!" He had no doubt that he couldn't survive without her. He would not move on from this spot if she was not moving with him.

Jasper placed a kiss on the softest spot of Alice's neck, both apologizing and reaffirming his love in one simple gesture before sinking his teeth into her—the sweet taste of her blood slowly pulsing into his mouth. Gently pulling his lips away from her after one more small kiss, he held her tightly as the venom coursed through her body with each slow beat of her heart.

As he held her close, his forehead pressed to hers, running his fingers through her hair, he felt her breathing steady. Her heartbeat strengthening. He knew then that she would be okay.

Their love freeing them, they would now be the ones in control of their own destinies. Together, forever.


End file.
